In the past, the process for generating, assigning, discounting and funding contracts in indirect financing transactions, such as automobile financing and other consumer credit transactions, was driven by the completion and processing of pre-printed paper forms. A dealer would complete the required pre-printed forms, enter into the contract with the customer, assign the contract and related documents to the finance source, e.g., a bank or other financing company, and then physically bundle and deliver the paper contract package (via courier or mail) to the finance source's sales branch. Once the documents were received, the sales branch would manually enter the required data from the contract packages into a computer system. Once data and plan validation were complete, and any remaining issues were resolved, the contract would be released for funding. After the contract was funded, the sales branch would then re-bundle the contract package and forward it to another application or supplier to scan or image the paper contract for account servicing purposes.
Recent advances in the computer and telecommunication technologies, however, have had a significant impact on the way financing transactions are conducted. For example, electronic exchange of information, including faxing, emailing, and the like, between dealership finance and insurance staff has enabled dealers to electronically initiate financing transactions for their customers with various independent finance sources, thereby enhancing both the efficiency and accuracy associated with securing consumer financing. However, current e-contracting solutions are only partially automated due to security concerns and lack of integration and cooperation between dealerships and various finance sources. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved e-contracting system that facilitates electronic contract creation, execution and storage and makes available the contracts and related information to dealers and various finance sources in a secure and reliable manner.